"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth:
it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was
diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered
the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there
were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things."--Daniel 7:7,8

"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;
and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall
speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most
High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a
time and times and dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away
his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end."--Daniel 7:23-26

"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he
shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty
and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his
hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many:
he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without
hand."--Daniel 8:23-25

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."--Daniel 9:27

"And the king shall do according to his will; and he
shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous
things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished;
for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,
nor the desire of women, * nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But
in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall
he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall
he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and
increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land
for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king
of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen,
and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass
over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be
overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the
chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries:
and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold
and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the
Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north
shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to
make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the
glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help
him."--Daniel 11:36-45

* "This vision has puzzled many people
but it would seem to confirm that the Antichrist will be a Jew since it declares he won't
have 'regard' for 'the God of his Fathers.' That expression is used in the Bible only in
connection with Jews. If he was a pagan, God would not point out his rejection of the
pagan faith of his fathers as a point of condemnation. Furthermore, this verse tells us he
will not 'regard...the desire of women.' Some have suggested that this means he will be a
eunuch or a homosexual. While that is possible, it is more probable in the context that
Daniel is referring to the fact that he will have no 'regard' for the 'desire of [Jewish]
women' to bear the Messiah as their son. Since the time of Moses, devout Jewish women have
prayed for the privilege of bearing the promised redeemer, the Messiah-King. The whole
context of this prophecy is religious and this appears to be the preferred
interpretation." (Prince of Darkness: Antichrist and the New World Order, Grant R.
Jeffrey)

"For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which
shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that
that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat,
and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword
shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and
his right eye shall be utterly darkened."--Zechariah 11:16,17

"I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me
not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."--John 5:43

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."--John 8:44

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us,
as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day
shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these
things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he
be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God
shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."--2
Thessalonians 2:1-12

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son,
the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father
also."--1 John 2:22

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God; And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."--1 John 4:1-3

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a
beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto
a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a
lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one
of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the
world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the
beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is
able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and
blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he
opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and
them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book
of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let
him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the
sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And
I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and
he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to
them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the
wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And
that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the
number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of
the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and
six."--Revelation 13:1-18

"The very first prophecy of the Bible takes note of
him, for in Gen. 3:15 direct reference is made to the Serpent's 'Seed.' In exodus a
striking type of him is furnished in Pharaoh, the defier of God; the one who cruelly
treated His people; the one who by ordering the destruction of all the male children,
sought to cut off Israel from being a nation; the one who met with such a drastic end at
the hands of the Lord. In the prophecy of Balaam, the Antichrist is referred to under the
name of 'Asshur' (Num. 24:22)..

"In the book of Job he is referred to as 'the Crooked
Serpent' (Job 26:13): with this should be compared Isa. 27:1 where, as 'the Crooked
Serpent,' he is connected with the Dragon, though distinguished from him. In the Psalms we
find quite a number of references to him; as 'the Bloody and Deceitful Man' (5:6); 'the
Wicked (One)' (9:17); 'the Man of the Earth' (10:18); the 'Mighty Man' (52:1); 'the
Adversary' (74:10); 'the Head over many countries' (110:6); 'the Evil Man' and 'the
Violent Man' (140:1), etc., etc. Let the student give special attention to Psalms 10, 52,
and 55.

"When we turn to the Prophets there the references to
this Monster of Iniquity are so numerous that were we to cite all of them, even without
comment, it would take us quite beyond the proper bounds of this introductory chapter.
Only a few of the more prominent ones can, therefore, be noticed.

"Isaiah mentions him: first as the 'Assyrian,' 'the
Rod' of God's anger (10:5); then as 'the Wicked' (11:4); then as 'the King of Babylon'
(14:11-20 and cf 30:31-33); and also as the 'Spoiler' - Destroyer (16:4). Jeremiah calls
him 'the Destroyer of the Gentiles' (4:7); the 'Enemy,' the 'Cruel One' and 'the Wicked'
(30:14 and 23). Ezekiel refers to him as the 'Profane Wicked Prince of Israel' (21:25),
and again under the figure of the 'Prince of Tyre' (28:2-10), and also as 'the chief
Prince of Meshech and Tubal' (38:2). Daniel gives a full delineation of his character and
furnished a complete outline of his career. Hosea speaks of him as 'the King of Princes'
(8:10), and as the 'Merchant' in whose hand are 'the balances of deceit' and who 'loveth
to oppress' (12:7). Joel describes him as the Head of the Northern Army, who shall be
overthrown because he 'magnified himself to do great things' (2:20). Amos terms him the
'Adversary' who shall break Israel's strength and spoil her palaces (3:11). Micah makes
mention of him in the fifth chapter of his prophecy (see v. 6). Nahum refers to him under
the name of 'Belial' (Heb.) and tells of his destruction (1:15). Habakkuk speaks of him as
'the Proud Man' who 'enlarged his desires as hell, and is as death, and cannot be
satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples' (2:5).
Zechariah describes him as 'the Idol Shepherd' upon whom is pronounced God's 'woe,' and
upon whom descends His judgment (11:17).

"Nor is it only in the Old Testament that we meet
with this fearful character. Our Lord Himself spoke of him as the one who should 'come in
his own name,' and who would be 'received' by Israel (John 5:43). The apostle Paul gives
us a full length picture of him in 2 Thess. 2, where he is denominated 'that Man of Sin,
the Son of Perdition,' who coming shall be 'after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders.' The apostle John mentions him by name, and declares that he will
deny both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22). While in the Apocalypse, the last book in
the Bible, all these lines of prophecy are found to converge in 'the Beast' who shall
ultimately be cast, together with the False Prophet, into the lake of fire, there to be
joined a thousand years later by the Devil himself, to suffer for ever and ever in that
fire specially 'prepared' by God.

Includes: Forward, Intro, The Papacy Not the Antichrist,
The Person of the Antichrist, Names and Titles of the Antichrist, The Genius and Character
of the Antichrist, The Career of the Antichrist, The Doom of the Antichrist, Antichrist in
the Psalms, The Antichrist in the Prophets, Antichrist in the Gospels and Epistles,
Antichrist in the Apocalypse, The Antichrist in Revelation 13, Types of the Antichrist,
Babylon and the Antichrist, Israel and the Antichrist.

All who deny the Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus are
antichrists.

Antiochus Epiphanes is recognized as the chief prototype
of the Antichrist.

The first opinion held in the Church was that the
Antichrist was a real person who would appear in the world when the time of his appearance
was come. The only point on which any question arose was whether he should be a man armed
with satanic powers or Satan himself. That he would be a man with satanic powers is the
opinion of Justin Martyr AD 103, Ireneus AD 140, Tertullian AD 150, Origen AD 184 and
Jerome AD 330.

(Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1872)

In Jewish commentaries, the legendary name given to the
antichrist is Armilus.

This Armilus will deceive the whole world into believing
he is God and will reign over the whole world. He will come with ten kings and together
they will fight over Jerusalem...Armilus will banish Israel 'to the wilderness' and it
will be a time of unprecedented distress for Israel; there will be increasing famine, and
the Gentiles will expel the Jews from their lands, and they will hide in caves and
towers...God will war against the host of Armilus...and there will be a great deliverance
for Israel and the kingdom of Heaven will spread over all the earth." (Encyclopedia
Judaica)

"Other references further describe Armilus as arising
from the Roman empire, having miraculous powers, and being born to a stone statue of a
virgin (which is why he is called "the son of stone"). It is also interesting
that he makes this statue "the chief of all idolatry" with the result that
"all the Gentiles will bow down to her, burn incense and pour out libations to
her."

Along with the information contained in "The Two
Babylons" is this excerpt from "The Prophecies of Malacy" regarding the
last pope:

PETRUS ROMANUS
"In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman,
who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be
destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people."

When Alexander the Great died his empire was divided into
four regions with the Seleucids gaining control of Babylonia and Syria. One of these
rulers was Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) who was a forerunner of The Antichrist. Antiochus IV
came to rule when his older brother was assassinated. He returned from Athens where he had
been studying philosophy, deposed the assassin and took the throne. He didn't like the
pomp and circumstance that went along with the office and was quite unorthodox.
"Antiochus IV was both the most interesting and the most erratic of his line, a rare
mixture of intellect, insanity and charm." His capital was in Antioch (Syria). He is
remembered in Christian circles for sacrificing a pig on the altar in the Temple which the
Bible calls "the abomination of desolation."

Ordered the Jews to pay in taxes 1/3 of their grain crops
and half of the fruit of their trees.

Appointed as high priest Jason, who tried establishing
Greek institutions in Judea.

When Jason didn't do things fast enough, Antiochus made
Menelaus high priest (who gave him "larger promises and fatter bribes"). Under
Menelaus:

Yahweh was identified with Zeus.

The Temple vessels were sold to raise money.

In some Jewish communities sacrifices were offered to Greek
gods.

A gymnasium was opened in Jerusalem where Jewish youths,
and even priests, took part in athletic games (naked).

While trying to conquer Egypt, reports drifted back to the
Jews that he had died. The Jews rejoiced, got rid of his appointees, massacred the leaders
and cleansed the Temple.

Antiochus, incensed at being turned back by the Romans,
marched to Jerusalem and:

Slaughtered Jews by the thousands.

Desecrated and looted the Temple taking the golden altar,
vessels and treasuries.

Restored Menelaus (who somehow wasn't murdered).

Gave orders that it was now compulsory for all Jews to be
Hellenized.

Rededicated the Temple as a shrine to Zeus, built a Greek
altar over the old one and replaced the usual sacrifices with a sacrifice of swine. The
Greek ritual was made compulstory on pain of death. Every Jew that refused to eat pork or
was found with the Book of the Law was to be jailed or killed and the Book burned.
"At times, it seems, Antiochus thought of establishing and requiring the worship of
himself as a god" (this came later with the Caesars).

Forbid anyone from keeping the Sabbath or other Jewish
festivals. Those who refused to work on these days were outlawed as rebels.

Made circumcision a capital offense.

Jerusalem was put to flames, walls destroyed and Jewish
population sold into slavery. He brought in foreign people to resettle the site.

All synagogues and Jewish schools closed.

Some Jews did what they were told and thought to ride it
out, but others fled into caves and mountain retreats.

(The Life of Greece, Will Durant)

The same scenario will play out in the end times, with the
Jews being warned that when they see the abomination of desolation they are to flee and
not even return to pack a few things.

Josephus claims that Antiochus' reign of terror starting
with sacrificing a sow on the altar he had erected to Jupiter (Zeus) in the Temple, lasted
for exactly three years (Kislev 25, Hanukkah, Festival of Lights). See "The Temple:
Its Ministry and Services: The Feast of the Dedication
of the Temple."

See King Hussein of Jordan for
modern parallels to Antiochus Epiphanes. Both their families were appointed lands after
the break-up of an empire, both given the same land area, assassinations in their
families, etc.

Hafez al-Asad seems to have taken a lesson from the recent
events in Jordan [King Hussein deciding his son, who had very little experience, should
succeed him even though his brother had been next in line for the past 40+ years] and has
decided to intensify the grooming of his son Bashar. Although Jordan still has authority
over holy places in Israel, Syria is still interesting for the following reasons:

*al-Asad is Arabic for "lion"

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise
up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and
upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the
dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. --Rev 13:1,2

*Damascus is the capital of Syria and there seems
to be some unfulfilled element regarding it. Could it be destroyed causing the Syrians to
relocate (to Babylon)?

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of
Damascus is Rezin (the king's name)...--Isa 7:8

...Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and
it shall be a ruinous heap.--Isa 10:9

See Rev 13:1,2 above And I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the
beast.--Rev 13:3??

*Bashar is an eye surgeon

The Laodicean church is told ...to anoint thine eyes with
eyesalve, that thou mayest see.--Rev 3:18

Laodicea was founded by Antiochus II and named in honor of
his wife.

*Syria was Antiochus Epiphanes' territory. He was
in Athens (some say Rome) studying philosophy when he was called back to Antioch after his
brother was assassinated. Bashar was called back from London where he was getting his
doctor's degree after his brother was killed in a car accident.

*Antiochus didn't care much for the pomp of the
office and was considered quite unorthodox. Bashar is already being hailed for his
unorthodox approach to dealings with Lebanon.

*The mark of the beast is considered to have some
sort of technological component. Bashar is no stranger to new technologies. The Syrian
Computer Society (SCS) was founded in 1989 by his brother and he has taken over as
chairman. From their web site: " The main objective of SCS is to promote, and to
effectively contribute to the diffusion of Information Technology in Syria."

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
aNd for thE overspReading Of abominations
he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall
be poured upon the desolate."--Daniel 9:27

At a distance of every 7 letters the name "Nero"
is found.

____________________

"The first five years of Nero's reign are notorious
in Roman history as the period of the best government the Empire had ever known."

Birthday: December 15, 37 AD. Came into the world feet
first. Formal name: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. This was changed when Claudius adopted
him at 13 years of age: Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. Murdered his mother. Was
considered an athlete and an artist; a man of culture, but lax in morals. He was married,
but had his boy, Sporos, too. To the pagan masses he was the ideal of the joys of
self-expression and earthly happiness.

"Nobody but a poet would have thought of turning the
center of imperial Rome into a Garden of Eden." He blames the Christians for the
burning of Rome, saying that they didn't stop the flames because they thought Jesus was
returning and were joyful.

On the altar of Zeus in the chief temple of Corinth they
inscribed the words "To Zeus, Our Liberator, namely Nero, for ever and ever." In
the temple of Apollo they set up his statue and they called him "The new Sun,
illuminating the Hellenes." (see above regarding the "Feast of the Dedication of
the Temple" with its references to illumination.)

"The 'five who are fallen' are evidently the five
first Emperors, Augustus, Tiberius [The Goat], Caligula, Claudius and Nero; the 'one who
is' is Galba; the 'one who is yet to come' is Otho; and the 'eighth' is Nero again, who is
about to return and is 'of the seven.'"

"Sometimes," says Suetonius, "they placed
his image upon the rostrum in the Forum, dressed in robes of state; at other times they
published proclamations in his name as if he were still alive and would shortly come back
to Rome and take vengeance on all his enemies."

[At about the time of the writing of the Apocalypse Nero
had supposedly stabbed himself in the neck and died at the house of some freedman, but
everyone thought he was still alive and reported seeing him in different places.]

(Nero, Arthur Weigall)

"...there are those who definitely believe that
Antichrist will be a Jew. In tracing the rise of this view one finds that Irenaeus of the
second century seems to be the first to teach it. He based his view upon the following
points: (1) The name Antichrist is Jewish. (2) Daniel wrote these words about Antichrist:
'Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers' (Dan 11:37). (3) He is from the tribe of
Dan since this tribe is among the missing of those mentioned in Revelation 7:4-8. (4) To
be parallel to Christ he must come from Israel...There is just not enough abundant
Scripture for anyone to be dogmatic on whether Antichrist will be Jewish or not.

"But there are certain characteristics about
Antichrist that we may be positive about. He shall be a vile person (Dan 11:21) with a
fierce countenance (Dan 8:23). He shall appear 'with all power and signs and lying
wonders' (2 Thess 2:9). He will be endowed with all deception (2 Thess 2:10). He shall be
a man of blasphemy, opposing God and compelling men to worship him (2 Thess 2:4). He shall
be the personification of all evil and sin for he will be completely controlled by Satan
(2 Thess 2:3)."

(The Next Invasion From Outer Space, Reg Dunlap)

"Maimonides also thinks that a sudden coming of the
Mashiach [Messiah] is possible, but he believes that the process will occur naturally and
in two stages. In the first stage - a kingdom or a government (not necessarily from the
house of David) organizes the nation of Israel in the form of a state which is sovereign
in its borders. Its task is to develop the spiritual power of the Torah and the physical
power of the nation and to build the Beit HaMikdash [The Temple]. In the second stage the
government will pass to the house of David. At the beginning of this turnabout, it may
still not be clear that a Mashiach is involved. It is possible that only at a later stage
of the revolution it will become obvious that he is the 'real Mashiach'. This Mashiach
will be a learned man, the greatest of his generation in the Written and Oral Law, 'like
his father, David', and he will make all Israel act according to the Law and become strong
immediately. He will fight the wars of the Lord. If the Beit HaMikdash has not already
been built, he will be responsible for building it and ingathering all the exiles of
Israel. By fulfilling these roles he will cause his influence to be made greater and he
will cause all the world to worship the Lord together."

"Was Abraham an Israelite? No, he actually was not.
What about Isaac? Well, he was not either. What about Jacob? Technically, Jacob was not an
Israelite. The crowd that went down to Egypt were Syrians. Abraham was no more an
Israelite than he was an Ishmaelite--since both peoples descended from him. Abraham was a
Syrian as to nationality."

(Deuteronomy, J. Vernon McGee)

"Syria (a form of the word Assyria), the
country lying north and east of Palestine (Judg 10:6; 1 Kings 10:29; Acts 15:23). It
stretched far inland from the Mediterranean and was bounded by the Taurus Mountains to the
north.

"Nineveh (meaning unknown), the capital of the
Kingdom of Assyria (Nahum 1:1; cf. 3:1; Zeph 2:13; Luke 11:32) It was located east of the
Tigris River in the area north of the point the Tigris joins the Upper Zab. The ruins are
now called Tell Kuyunjik and Tell Nebi Yunus.

"Asshur ("level plain") [1] A son of Shem
(Gen 10:22; 1 Chron 1:17) Possibly the people of Assyria are intended. [2] Genesis 10:11,
if denoting a person, refers to a son of Ham or to [1]. However, many scholars translate:
'From that land he (Nimrod) went into Assyria (Asshur).'"

(Nelson's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts)

"Aram, Aramaeans (often in AV and RV 'Syrians'). A
number of scattered but kindred tribes which made their appearance in the Euphrates Valley
about BC 1300 and rapidly pushed westward...The Aramaeans are first mentioned by
Shalmaneser I of Assyria about BC 1300. About the same time their name occurs in an
inscription of Rameses II. Tilgath-pileser I (c. BC 1110) mentions Aramaeans as dwelling
east of the Euphrates, and in the same region they were later (885-824) conquered by
Ashurnazirpal and Shalmaneser II. Many of them continued to live in the Euphrates Valley,
where their language spread to such an extent that, in the reign of Sennacherib, Aramaic
glosses begin to make their appearance on Babylonian contracts. In Nippur many similar
documents from the Persian period have been found. They indicate that the use of Aramaic
was spreading among the common people of Babylonia. It probably came into general use
here, as the Babylonian Talmud is written in it.

"The Aramaeans pushed into the West in large numbers
shortly after BC 1300. In course of time they occupied Damascus and a part of the country
to the south as far as the Hauran, some of them mingling with tribes still farther to the
south and becoming the Ammonites, Moabites, and Israelites...Damascus became the leading
Aramaean State...

"Damascus--The chief city of Northern Syria...It
derives its modern importance from local manufactures...from its situation and convenience
as a market for the desert tribes, and from its religious significance as the
starting-point of the annual Syrian pilgrim caravan to Mecca...Here took place his
[Paul's] miraculous conversion..."

(Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible)

___________________

"Our first reading of the Arab state of affairs shows
that the masses of our Arab nation -- which are led by honest Arab leaderships and
regimes, headed by the Syrian people who have a lion for a leader [pun on Hafiz al-Asad,
where al-Asad is Arabic for lion] (see Revelation 13:1-18 above) -- have awakened
the nation from its slumber, putting into motion all the Arab forces, potentials, and
energies in rejecting occupation, containment, and exploitation. This is US policy in the
Arab homeland; it is the progeny of a classic and consistent strategic stance while
tactics evolve and change. How else can we explain this joint American-Israeli partnership
and support, and this joint defense agreement in the fields of military cooperation and
training? How else can we explain the tripartite alliance between America, Israel, and the
militarists of Turkey? Why are the navies and armadas of air carriers, submarines,
warships, and other military forces and material roaming the shores of the Arab region and
extending to the Indian Ocean? Are all these to maintain peace and justice? Are they to
keep away the specter of war from the region, or have they come to serve the interests of
US designs and in support of the abhorrent Zionist occupation?"

(Damascus al-Thawrah in Arabic, March 22, 1998, p. 13,
Article by Mazin al-Naqib: "Spotlight on US Policy in the Region")

"...the world's current massive population is
doubling every thirty to forty years with each new generation. If this growth rate is
sustained, as is likely, this population could be more than four times its already
impressive number within the next one hundred (100) years. If that then happens, world
food supply demands would be four times as great with substantially less land available to
produce these supplies. In addition, meeting current demand requires the use of fossil
fuels which are also expected to be exhausted within 100 years.

"Thus, within 100 years the task of providing needed
supplies would be very much dependent on careful planning and order. Within the next two
hundred (200) years, the world's population could be twenty (20) times its current number.
Such a population level could very probably overburden any conceivable plan to provide
these supplies. It would probably accomplish the same goal of introducing worldwide
anarchy, famine, and death of most of the world's population. If Satan waits for this
period to arrive, he will have missed his "window of opportunity" to accomplish
his goal. He can therefore be expected to act sooner than this period."

The Jerusalem Targum* on Exodus 12:42 "notes that
there were 4 remarkable nights: those of creation, of the covenant with Abraham, of the
first Passover, and of the redemption of the world; and that as Moses came out of the
desert, so would the Messiah come out of Rome."

(The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred
Edersheim)

Christianity is awaiting the Antichrist from within the
ranks of a revived Roman Empire and the Jews are looking for their Messiah to come out of
Rome.

(*Targum--When the Jews came back from the captivity they
spoke Aramean, "the common people were ignorant of pure Hebrew" which was
"the language of students and of the Synagogue." Because of this, there was an
interpreter that translated the Scriptures that were read in the publc services and what
the Rabbis said from Hebrew to the common language. These translations/paraphrases are the
origin of the Targum and it should be kept in mind, of course, that the views of the
particular translators crept in, but overall they conveyed the general stance of the
material according to Jewish thought around the 3rd-4th century.)

The Bunyan
Archive
Of Antichrist, and His Ruin and of the Slaying the Witnesses by John Bunyan. (273k)

Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not
endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the
dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which
includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed
with a mature, discerning eye.